Introduction

Creating a smart, active and biocompatible label that allows you to monitor the status of a food and extend its shelf life. The label is able to detect deterioration of food by color variation and to slow the degradation processes of these products by releasing suitable substances.

Technical features

Food security is one of the most important issues in the world and consumers are increasingly seeking direct and reliable information, especially in the case of easily decomposed products such as fish. Exposure of the fresh product packaged under light and temperature conditions conducive to its degradation is one of the most significant factors in reducing the so-called shelf-life. To this is added the lack of confidence of the consumer who does not always have the possibility to directly verify that the product has not suffered photovoltaic stress such as to compromise its quality. The market requires the development of intelligent labels that give direct customer confidence in the product’s state of conservation through direct detection of thermal shocks or specific decay products.

Possible Applications

• The label through an unambiguous color change, thus without the need to use measuring instruments, is able to easily point out to the consumer the possible deterioration of the food product. The material used as a support for the detector system is of natural or biocompatible origin and can be sensitive to temperature variations so that the label can also indicate any cold chain interruptions. The label is able to actively intervene in shelf-life of the food product by slowing the deterioration processes by releasing antioxidant and / or antibacterial substances.

Advantages

• L’etichetta attraverso un inequivocabile cambio di colore, quindi senza la necessità di ricorrere a strumenti di misurazione, è in grado di evidenziare in maniera semplice per il consumatore l’eventuale deterioramento del prodotto alimentare. Il materiale utilizzato come supporto per il sistema rivelatore è di origine naturale o biocompatibile e può essere sensibile alle variazioni di temperatura in modo che l’etichetta possa anche evidenziare eventuali interruzioni della catena del freddo. L’etichetta è in grado di intervenire attivamente nella shelf-life del prodotto alimentare rallentando i processi di deterioramento attraverso il rilascio di sostanze antiossidanti e/o antibatteriche.